Group rallies to support new middle school

Residents who support the new construction project at Mountview Middle School are leaving nothing to chance.

A group met at the Wong Restaurant last week to begin a strategic campaign to make sure that enough voters turn out to get the funding passed.

The meeting was headed by Mountview School Building Committee member Chris Lucchesi.

The construction proposal would ease overcrowding issues at the school.

After voters approved $675,000 for a middle school feasibility study in 2010, the Mountview School Building Committee went to work.

Headed by committee chair Paul Challenger, the committee assessed building needs for the overcrowded school that houses grades, six, seven and eight. Built in 1967 to house 660 students, with an addition completed in 1989, the school currently strains to accommodate almost 800 students.

Mechanical systems and classroom accommodations are outdated, and the school is unable to handle new safety systems such as sprinklers.

In April, the committee chose Lamoreaux, Pagano & Associates, who have worked in the Wachusett Regional School District before, as architects for the project, whether it would be an addition, redesign or new building.

Over the summer, charettes and hearings were held to get public input. By September, the committee had decided the most fiscally sensible option was to build a new middle school on the current Mountview School campus, with the old building getting torn down upon completion. The project is estimated to cost about $61 million, with about 53 percent of that being funded by the Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA).

Voters will act upon the request at a special town meeting on April 8, followed by a special election on April 11, to provide funding.

Former selectman Kenneth O’Brien asked at last week’s meeting what the financial impact would be to Holden residents. Project manager Gary Kazmarek said it would be about 75 cents a day per year for the average household. Lucchesi added that borrowing costs would amount to less than $300 a year for a home valued at $266,000. That cost would be carried each year for 20 years.

The school project has no impact on funding the Wachusett Regional School District budget.

Lucchesi and other Mountview School Building Committee members asked volunteers to give 25 hours over the next 11 weeks, when the election will be held to help the school building proposal pass.

The volunteers were told that there was a goal to identify 2,000 supporters and get them out to show up at the polls.

As volunteers help educate the public about the middle school building needs, they should point out that Mountview School project was approved for funding by the MSBA on the town’s first application, an indication that the state sees a great need, meeting organizers said.

“It’s the equivalent of being a first-round draft pick,” Lucchesi said.